Car-door hanger



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

D. I'.v VAN LIEW.

GAR Doon HANGER.

D. F., VAN LIBWI A y 2 Sheets-TShejet'2.

GAR DOOR HANGER. y

Patented Aug. 2, 1881.

(lNo Model.)

l NCQ 245,035.

rfy man memup-rim wanngmmu. c.

w/w//H//Nf//w/ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' DENNIS E. 1v-AN LIEW, VoF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

GAR-DOOR HANGER.

i SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Noga-15,035, dated. August 2, 1881.

4 Application niet MajeoussL-(Nq model.)

Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in (lar-Door Hangers, of which the following is a specification.4

This invention relates to the hangersused upon freight-'cardoors; and it constitutes an improvement upon the construction of haugers set forth in thev patent toAlexander N. Monteer, reissued to myself and said Monteer, April 27, 1880.

The invention is designed to rrender the operation of opening and closing the door as near frictionless as possible, and also to render the door so tight that `it will perfectly exclude sparks and water.

The primary feature of my improved construction coisists in housing each of the rollers or balls whereou the door rests in elongated sockets substantially equal in length to the distance required to be traveled by the ball in the operation of the door.

By this improvement I do away with the friction between the ball and the pushing side of itsholding-socket, and the benefit of it is especially felt in starting the door.

The other portions Kof my invention relate to certain details of construction, which are fully s explained hereinafter.

In the drawings, Figure lis an exterior View of a car and door to which my improvements have been applied. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section ofthe door-han gin g devices. Figs. 3 and 4 are longitudinal sections of the parts shown Ain Fig. 2, Fig. 3 being a vertical section upon the line w zr, andFig. 4 a horizontal section on the line y y.

s In said drawings, Arepresents the car-side, A the car-roof, a-nd B the car-door. Suspended from the car-front, and secured by bolts or lag-screws, is a metal carrier, C, curved in crosssection, so as to afford bearings at right angles to each other-that is, at side and bottom to the roller-balls D. In length it extends the width of the door and about one-halt` the distance traveled by it in opening, this additional lengthbeing located upon the side toward which the door is moved in opening. This carrier is thus made to support and form are cross-projections e e e2, which divide the a travel-waytbr the rollers or balls D, and confines them upon the outer side.

Attached to the door by rivets b is a metal piece, E, shaped similarly to the carrier, but

reversed in position, so as to rest upon the balls. It extends from side to side of the door.

This piece I4 call the hanger. It forms the other side and the top bearings for the balls. At each end and at the center of this hanger 6o inclosed space between the carrier and hanger into two elongated sockets or receptacles, in each of which is placeda ball,D. As the balls move through but one-half the distance traveled by the door I make these sockets to correspond as near as may be with the distance traveled by the ball. In this way the ball is kept from contact`with the socket ends at all times during the sliding ot' the door, and a great deal of friction is avoided. As shown in the drawings, the door is closed, in which position the balls occupy the right ends of their respective inclosures; but when the door is opened the balls will move to the points indicated in dotted lines, and at the left ends of the sockets.

To support the left edge ofthe door when it is closed I provide the carrier at that end with a sloping support, c, upon the surface of which the end stop, e, may ride, whereby the door is kept level, and the weight and consequent wear while the car is running Ais taken in part from the balls. By making the supporto sufficiently high the sustaining of the door at the two corners may be made a matter of certainty; and for the same purpose I also support the right edge of the door, when open, upon a slopingsurfaced piece, c', secured to the car-side, and adjusted to receive the oth er end stop, e2.

When the door is closed it is important that the right or free edge thereof be made to hug the car as closely as possible, because no such rabbet or groove joint can beformed thereand rain very perfectly, and much more perfectly than when the door is hung by the hangers shown in said Monteer patent. Lateral strains do not aiiect the operation of this door, as they do in other methods of construction. Being confined between the at surfaces attop, bottom, and sides, the balls roll between such of the opposing surfaces as exert the greatest pressure thereon. 'lhey revolve in all directions, so as to wear evenly upon all sides and preserve their spherical form.

Car-doors are often subjected to an outward lateral strain from the freight confined within. In such cases with but the old rolling devices, such as wheels, no relief is furnished from tbe friction therefrom; but itwillbe apparentthat the balls in my device a'ord relief from fric* tion in whatever direction upon them it may come, whether vertically or horizontally. 0f course, unnecessary friction between the balls and the sides of their sockets should be avoided; and hence, except at the thickening c2, I

leave a free space between them and said sides,

as shown at m. The adjacent parts of the hanger and carrier should also be at a suflicient remove to prevent actual contact, so that all lateral pressure from either side will be received and borne by the balls.

A stop, d, at the right end of the carrier serves to prevent the ball from slipping out of its socket. Ordinary lateral supports are used to retain the bottom end of the door. The snpport c may be made separate from the carrier, like the support c', if thought best.

While I have shown two roller-balls, I do not wish to confine myself to that number, as a single ball might be employed, or a larger number than two might be used by elongating the carriers and increasing the number of sockets. I prefer, however, to employ two.

I claim- 1. rIhe combination, with the car and its door, of the ball or balls confined in sockets equal, or essentially equal, in length to the dis tance traveled by the balls in the operation of the door, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the door sliding upon rollers or balls confined in long sockets, substantially as set forth, of the supports c c, one or both, for supporting the edges of the door, as specified.

3. The combination ofthe door and its supporting-rollers with the projection c2 upon the inner side of the carrier for forcing the door against the car-side, substantially as specified.

DENNIS F. VAN LIEW.

Witnesses:

H. M. MUNDAY, T. EVERETT BROWN. 

